This weekend Cloak and I went on our usual hike into into the forest.

It was a beautiful Saturday Morning. Good to see Portland having some decent weather know.



It was very hot but, fortunately we were in a forest and under the shade. This made everything much cooler and we had a little breeze once in awhile





With the allotted time that we had we really couldn't do anything too extravagant as making a large shelter. During Midday, I had to go to a 2 hour long college conference meeting. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

So we ultimately decided to try a little bit of primitive fire making.

We traveled fairly light. Cloak brought is small backpack and I just brought my best.

Here's the two of us prepping. I'm putting on my vest and Cloak is checking his gear.



As you can see, the structure of our shelter is still there. However, all the leaves and branches have dried and been blown off.



On to the fire making.

At first I decided to grab a piece of cedar and started a bit of hand drilling. This didn't really do much except hurt my hand. I was able to get the wood fairly hot, but not hot enough to make ashes.

Cloak tried this, too. He then though that he would have a better change with a bow drill.

After that both of us started to make our own bow-drill assembly.

When I made my bow, I used a really short piece of iron wood. It really didn't work very well so I didn't go any further.

Cloak, on the other hand had made a perfect bow and drill for the task.

It worked splendidly and Cloak was able to get very hot ashes.





You can see here, how well Cloak was able to drill in the wood.



Here he goes at another attempt. Notice that you can see the smoke coming from the wood burning.

"This is only kind of smoke that teens should be smoking"-- Cloak <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />



After he had his go with the drill, I, too tried it out.



[img]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee292/The_Aaij_1/DSC_0117-1.jpg[/img]

Here's the result of the drill tip and how burnt it is.

[img]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee292/The_Aaij_1/DSC_0115-1.jpg[/img]

I really got the thing smoking.

Because of the short time that we had, we really weren't able to get a fire going. We, were however, able to get smoke and really burnt ashes of wood. If we kept going longer we probably would have been able to get a coal and start a small fire.

This and also it was our (well at least mine) first time trying the technique and getting some results. Both of us kept messing up when using the drill.

At the end of everything we went through a bag of Sour Patch fruit candy to keep us motivated. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

[img]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee292/The_Aaij_1/DSC_0104-4.jpg[/img]

Though next, weekend we'll have more time as I won't be needing to go to a darn college meeting. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the pictures.
Looks like you carried much less knives than usual.

What college you guys trying to get in.

Nice post, Sharp! Good to see you had decent wheater there, as here in north east of Italy we had 2 days of raining, without any pause!
I guess you could add any dry and soft material, next to the drill tip, to obtain fire. Ciao, Michelangelo

Mac,

I'm still looking.

The Colleges that went to the conference were Whitman, Occidental, Oberlin, and Colorado.

I'm just looking for a good liberal arts college.

I'll let Cloak answer for himself.

Actually, we still carried most of our knives. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

We had our thigh rigs. I' still had my FBM. Cloak had both his Ranger and RTAK. We still had our RMDs. In addition to the various folders and leathermans that we carry. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Michelango,

Thanks for the comment.

Before this weather it was also really rainy. If you've seen our previous threads the forest doesn't look like the pictures above. It looked like a rain forest. All wet and muddy. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

And thanks for the tip. That's what the notch in the drill hole was for. The wood was already dried cedar from our last chopping extravaganza and was very good wood for burning.

The notch was their so that we could place some dry flammable material to get it going. However, we weren't able to the wood hot enough to get a coal and start a fire. We didn't drill long enough. Though next time, we'll should be able to get a smaller fire going.

Learn from mistakes. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Nice vest <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

And nice pics. Lucky me I can´t work this week muahaha hurt my righthand but I´m lefthanded yeeehaw I´m gonna spend all week in the bush <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I have a very similar vest set-up. Mine is based on the last generation South African combat vest, which is in a nice sheeple friendly African savanna brown color. I got the vest idea stuck in my head since reading "tunnel in the sky' by Robert Heinlein.

My wife rocks at making a fire with a bow-drill. I can make smoke, and curses.
One of the guys that works for Tom Brown showed us how, at Wild West City a few years back.

Great pics, Sharp. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Looks like you guys did pretty good. I don't consider myself an expert by any means, but I have started many many fires with hand drill and bow drill, and I do have one suggestion. The notch looks just a little shallow and off center, it may not seem like a big deal but the coal dust has to have a good place to collect and heat up. I usually make my notches 1/8 of a pie in shape and cut it almost to the center, that seems to work best for me. I need to get out and get some practice myself. It's been a little while since I've had time to work on my own skills. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Just keep at it, you'll get it and when you do, you'll be hooked! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Nice... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

great looking pics bro

I really need to learn bowdrill firemaking

Sharp you and cloak are very lucky to live in such a great state. California is nice but i hate all the laws. What realy sucks is i live in a apartment with no backyard. So its not like i can practice this stuff in a parking lot.

The woods are far from the city i live in and if i got cought doing some of the stuff you guys do i would prolly get life in prison. Stupid strict laws.

Simon,

SWEEEET!!!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

What are you gonna bring to destroy some trees and make some shelters with?

Roo,

Both techniques are really hard. The bow-drill was much easier, but the hand-drill would take at least 10-20 minutes worth of straight drilling. Hand-drilling is a really meditating experience that I haven't full appreciated yet.

After Cloak got home, after our trip, he was almost able to get a coal going.

RW,

Thanks for the suggestion. Both of us thought of you suggesting that we try it. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Can you get a pic of a well-done notch. This was pretty much my first time trying and getting somewhere with both techniques. I really didn't have any idea what I was doing, including making my bow ( I made a bow awhile back that worked really well, but though a shorter one would be easier)

Nick,

Thanks, You should join our endeavors someday. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Leatherface,

Bowdrilling is really fun but takes a lot of practice and patience as many of you have stated. I gave up many times when I was pretty darn close.

L4D,

Awww don't say that. There are many really nice wooded areas in California. If you can, you should go to the woods, even if it is a little far away, and find a nice spot, far away from the trail. A nice secluded area to set up your HQ. Also bring a friend along and some ice cold beer. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Technically, I think what we do is also a little out of our jurisdiction. However, the area that we are in, is set for a Private Road. I don't believe Forest Rangers patrol that area too much. Lots of bikers, hikers, etc go through the trails.

I was lucky enough to find our secret location. I doesn't seem like anyone has looked or ventured to it yet. I hope no does for a long time, too. With the grow that's been going this spring, we almost missed our entrance on the way in.

hmm Sharp, that reminds me. We should do some shots that show what are area is like. I mean, its kinda been shown in other stuff, but next time the weather is nice we should do some shots of the camp, the approach, and also what can be seen from the path below. The camp is up on a ridgeline between two main trails, both of which are steeply inclined. This means that bikers are either killing themselves to get up the hill, or zooming down it at around 100mph. In either case, they're unlikely to notice us in our camo/earth-tone cloths; they also don't have a direct line of sight. Walkers might hear us, but most of them are 40-something women out for a powerwalk with the girlfriends, so they're always talking loudly and completely unaware of their surrounding. I'm confident that even if someone found us, we could show them that we never litter (a rare virtue) and never cut anything larger than a 1" branch from a living tree. That shelter that we built was entirely out of dead wood. The knives we carry are also legal in Oregon because they're not dirks or daggers, and they're not concealed. Also, both our families have full knowledge of what we're doing, so it we're not worried about the "i'll have to inform your parents" ploy.

In general, I'm also confident we could get away with practicing fire-starting. So long as we don't get larger than the tinder stage, and take precautions to clear the area first, I don't think the smoke would be visible.